


Latter Days

by blueseawitch



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, This is a short drabble of Charas surface life, mostly a character study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 08:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7094623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueseawitch/pseuds/blueseawitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’d just wanted to sneak in a bit of television really, the remote was sitting right there on the couch and would it really be a big deal if you watched just a few cartoons before she woke up?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Latter Days

Mom was napping again when you woke up in the morning, sprawled across the couch, hand still on the remote. You poured yourself a bowl of cereal (the cheerios were mostly dust at this point from being squished when dad had thrown the box last night but it was fine really) and sat down on the carpet, wiggling your toes and munching on a breakfast the consistency of wet sawdust. The clock on the wall said it was 10 so Dad should have left for work already and school should have started by now, but you knew better then to ask Mom to drive you. Besides, school had never been much fun anyway. 

You’d just wanted to sneak in a bit of television really, the remote was sitting right there on the couch and would it really be a big deal if you watched just a few cartoons before she woke up? You were sure the cable subscription would be gone soon and you wanted to see as much Tom and Jerry as you could before your father couldn’t afford to renew it. You liked Tom and Jerry, a clever mouse turning a cat's own home against it, destroying those who had wronged it with almost poetic justice. You’d miss it when all you could watch was PBS. 

Reaching for the remote was a mistake, you thought the Advil would make your Mom a deeper sleeper. 

You were wrong.

Like a snake, she had a hand around your wrist and was pulling you up to face level at an awkward angle. 

“What did I say about wasting the electricity?” Your mother sneered, red eyes narrowed in disgust at you. You felt your heart sink and your stomach flip flop. You weren't going to panic, you weren't going to scream or beg she hated that. You were a big kid. You had to face this like a big kid. 

“I-I just wanted to put it a-away.” You mumbled averting your eyes and trying to make your face as blank as possible, in hopes your mother won’t see through the frankly obvious lie. 

“Bullshit.” She replies flatly, long nails digging into the cuts on your wrist. She really had a talent for pinpointing the best spots. “You really are a terrible child. We ask you to do so little and you fail every time. Its disgusting.” She pushes herself up, nails digging into your arm and making you let out a yelp despite yourself. She shoots you a disgusted glare and you know she’ll probably “not feel up” to making dinner tonight. Maybe they’ll have extra takeout for you. God you hope so, you can’t really steal lunches at the school cafeteria anymore. 

Your mother kicks the bowl of cereal over as she drags you over to the hallway, finally stopping and finishing through her coat pocket before handing you a few wadded dollar bills. 

“I don’t want to see your face right now.” She growls, counting them out in front of you so she’ll know if you kept any change. “Go walk to the corner store and buy me some cigarettes if you have so much free time.” She thrusts a five dollar bill into your hands and pushes you towards the door when you look at her blankly. You’re in your pajamas after all, does she really expect you?

“Didn’t the doctors tell you to s-stop smoking those?” You mumble, nose scrunching up at the thought of your mom stinking up the living room with those cigarettes again. You’d tried one behind her back once and ended up coughing for about ten minutes straight. You’re pretty sure that was the only time you’ve seen your mother laugh. 

Your mother slaps your for that and you realize she heard you and you squeeze your eyes shut because you Will!! Not!! Cry!! in front of her you are strong. You may be terrible and useless with devil’s eyes that look far to much like hers you can be strong, even if that’s all you ever can be. 

Your mother has already pushed you out the door before your head clears and you realize, in the middle of November, that you have forgotten to grab your shoes. 

The frosty roads stretch before you as you readjust your goodwill pajamas and prepare to run all the way to the end of your neighborhood. 

 

\------

When you finally reach flickering lights and gaudy posters the corner store your feet are bright red and you’re pretty sure you left some skin on that last crosswalk. You push open the door with a jingle and bounce your numb heels on the shiny warm floor. The only other person in the store seems to be the man behind the desk who looks up at you with a bored expression and then looks back at his magazine. He doesn’t comment on your red cheek or the soaking wet bottoms of your pajama legs and you are grateful for the awfulness of humanity for once. You didn’t want to explain yourself right now. You just wanted to get back home and scrape what was left of your breakfast off the carpet.

You grab a box of cigarettes off the shelf and slap them onto the counter with your five dollars. The man looks down at your curiously, brows furrowed in confusion. 

“Need a card kid. We don’t sell those to minors.” He grumbles, looking back at his magazine instead of you,

You don’t really blame him for avoiding your creepy red stare but you need those cigarettes now and you don’t want to run back and ask for your moms I.D card. You’ve had to before and she accused you to trying to get her arrested (which lead you to to conclude that a driver's license must be a very powerful thing indeed.) You slam your hand down next to the cigarettes again and give the man your best creepy stare. 

He just gives you a look that says “Buzz off” and goes back to looking at pictures of cars.  
You hate him. You hate this man so much your rage is white hot in your veins, your mother is going to hit you because he doesn’t care. You are going to go hungry. You’d kill him if you could, string up an awful trap like in the cartoons and blow him to pieces so he’ll know he was wrong, that he should have been sorry and taken your seriously! 

Instead you just grab the cigarettes off the counter and run. 

 

You hear the man shouting as you book it across the streets, leaving little bloody droplets on the asphalt. You know he won’t follow you. You left the money after all, more than what these stupid things are worth. He’s just surprised but when he realized you’ve paid he’ll forget you.

Humans are like that. The sheer consistency of their actions is almost comforting. 

\-------

You make it back home alright and ring the doorbell, wait five minutes, and then climb in a window anyway (as always you thank the kid in the housing complex next to you for showing you how to brace a window open, it's a pity he moved). Your mom is watching the news and you hobble up to her on icy feet, hopping gently around the cheerio dust staining the couch and hand her the pack of cigarettes. She motions for you to get the lighter so you do, handing the little metal square to her as you climb up onto the couch and rub your feet. 

“You don’t have change do you.” She states as she lights one, taking a drag with a contented expression. 

You shake your head and close your eyes, waiting. 

“Don’t be like that. You think I’m so terrible don’t you? Stop being so melodramatic. You got expensive ones. You shouldn’t have any change anyway. I know that scumbag overpriced everything in his lousy shop.” She turns back to the news and takes another long drag. 

Guilt flushes your face and you mumble another apology. Your mother ignores you in favor of the cigarette but you sit on the couch and watch the news with her and pretend that this is ok.


End file.
